Project Eden

Ryan Cullison had always been fond of working after hours in his office in the Sun Gazette building. He had always been fine with large crowds, but working from 6-9 in a bustling, extremely loud office gave him a headache. So he’d stay until about midnight, putting the finishing touches on his stories before placing them on his boss’ desk. Then he’d recline in his desk chair, and relax for a while, basking in the silence before heading outside to the deafening streets of New York City.

Tonight, he finished at about 10:30, sighing as he lounged at his desk, spinning around to look out at the city. The sky was completely black, but scattered with stars, and a full moon smiling down. The sounds of brakes squealing, cars honking, and people chatting on the sidewalks drifted up towards him. A phone rang, and he turned, snatching his phone off of his desk and stabbing the answer button.

Ryan was a journalist, so he was used to people calling, and saying things like, “Ryan, I loved that piece on that nuclear physicist!” and “Ryan, could you do a piece on the war in the Middle East?”. He was the paper’s best writer, or so everyone said. Ryan was a perfectionist, and he despised his own work.

“Cullison.” He answered.

“Is this Ryan Cullison of the Sun Gazette?” A chipper female voice said on the phone.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“This is Doctor Olivia Hanson of the Eden Project. Would you like the opportunity of a lifetime?”

Ryan frowned. What an odd way to start a conversation. “Umm…sure.”

“Where are you right now?”

Ryan didn’t really like this woman’s, Olivia’s, conversational tactics, but he decided to tell her the truth. People had tried to kill him many times before, so if this turned out the same, he had some friends at the police department. As a journalist, he had to take risks. “Sun Gazette, why?”

“Would you be entirely opposed to me coming to your location?”

This was strange. “Yes, I would be. May I ask why you need to come here? Can you just explain whatever you want to see me about over the phone?”

“The topic I want to discuss with you is classified, and cannot be conferred over an unsecure phone line. I must meet you in person.” A small pause. “I’m watching you anyway. May I come over?”

Ryan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “Fine.” He said, attempting to sound calm and collected.

Olivia hung up, and the elevator soon opened to his floor. He looked across the large white newspaper office, the entire space taken up with desks and file cabinets. A woman stepped out of the elevator. She looked about 27 or 28, and she wore tight, faded jeans and a button-up shirt that was open in a v down her neck. She had short, choppy brown hair, about to her jawline.

She had a piece of paper in her hand. She walked to Ryan. “Cullison?” She asked.

He nodded. She pulled a chair up to his desk. They sat down together, and she began. “Mr. Cullison, I have been entrusted with the duty of giving you the opportunity of a lifetime.” She paused, then continued. “I am a doctor with the Eden Project. To hear more, you must initial this paper.” She said, shoving the form towards Ryan.

Olivia’s manner was robot-like, and she made him uneasy. But Ryan read the paper anyway. Summarized, it said that he was about to hear information that was classified, and that he must promise not to tell anyone by signing this paper. He hastily signed it without thinking. He slid it back to Olivia.

She glanced at it before beginning again. “Project Eden is the government’s attempt to create human beings from almost nothing.” She was going to continue, but Ryan interrupted her.

“Almost nothing? Sounds like playing God.” Ryan didn’t entirely like that.

Olivia glared at him, and then continued. “We succeeded in creating a male and female, both to be used as weapons for the military, and then for reproduction. They are indestructible, and they have but one weakness,” She paused for effect. “A substance created by me and my coworkers to terminate them if they step out of line.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Terminate them?”

Olivia nodded. “They are ruthless and do not show mercy. They have no emotion, and love no one but each other.”

“Sounds more like a monster than a human.”

Olivia continued as if she hadn’t heard Ryan. “Their names are ‘F-4859 and M-3898, or, Ava and Finn. Ava has shown susceptibility to two of our created substances, but Finn only has with one. You have been cleared to visit the facility where Ava and Finn are being kept.” She stopped, sitting completely still like an android.

“I accept.” Ryan said, without hesitation. These human-creations made him uncomfortable, but what a story! “Would I be able to publish a column about them at a given time?” He asked.

“Yes.” Olivia said automatically. “They are finishing a few touches on them, but we are counting on revealing them in December.”

“When do I go?” Ryan asked, fiddling with a pen.

“Now.”

“Really?” Ryan said in surprise.

“There’s a car waiting outside. Your eyes will be covered for most of the journey; you’re only allowed to know that the facility is somewhere in Connecticut. The drive will be fairly short. It will be after hours, so no one will be there except for guards, and you and I.” She stared deep into Ryan’s eyes. “Are you ready?”

Ryan fumbled for his notebook. “Yeah, um.. Am I allowed to take notes on this?”

“As long as you don’t publish any of your notes until after Ava and Finn are revealed.”

He nodded. He stuffed his notebook and pen into his pocket, and he and Olivia went down to the front of the building, where he stepped into a black SUV with tinted windows. They put a bag over his head, and they drove for about 45 minutes before coming to a stop. Olivia whipped the bag off of his head, and he squinted around.

They were sitting in front of a seemingly empty warehouse, with no windows. They got out of the SUV, and went inside a single white door. There were guards on either side of the door, and Olivia lead Ryan through the maze of corridors to a sky blue hallway with a glass wall. Ryan looked through the glass, and saw into a plain white room with a single lightbulb barely able to illuminate the whole room. There are two white cots next to each other in the cramped room, one holding a pale blond boy who lay there looking lifeless, his chest unmoving. The other cot held a girl; it was obvious from her long blond hair and body shape. They both looked dead.

Olivia flipped a switch, and both the kids’ eyes flew open. That’s what they were, kids. They both looked about 15. They both jumped up and stood beside their beds. They stared at Olivia and Ryan unblinkingly. “Can they see us?” He whispers to Olivia.

“No, but I’m about to turn on the intercom to give them some commands.” Olivia responds. She presses a button and holds it down. “Introduce yourselves.” She commands.

The girl begins to speak. “I am F-4859. My nickname is Ava. I am 14 years and 8 months old.”

The boy speaks next. “I am M-3898. My nickname is Finn. I am 15 years and 4 months old.”

Their mouths slap shut. Olivia commands them again. “What is your favorite thing to do?”

“We like to work for the US government by eliminating threats to its wellbeing.” Ava and Finn say in sync. 

“Who commands you?”

“Whoever commands the COAD controls us.” They say in sync again.

Ryan looked at Olivia strangely. “The COAD stands for Control Of Androids Device. It’s a device that we created. It has a library of fingerprints, and only people with their fingerprints in the library are able to access the COAD. They are able to give commands.” Olivia said.

Ryan and Olivia observed Ava and Finn for about an hour; Olivia showing their fighting ability off. They were true weapons. They could probably kill an entire army working together. They still bled, and were susceptible to illness, but they couldn’t die.

Then it happened. Alarms began to blare, and the lights suddenly turned to a dull red. Ava and Finn turned towards them. “Oh my…..” Before Olivia could finish her sentence, the glass broke as Ava and Finn dove through, and Finn tackled her, going for Olivia’s throat. She immediately went limp, and Ava and Finn turned to Ryan.

He turned, sprinting down the hallway away from them. He wished they hadn’t given these freaks superhuman speed. He felt Ava land on his back and drag him to the floor. He grabbed her in the head frantically, adrenaline racing through his veins. He smashed her head into the floor, knowing that it probably wouldn’t kill her anyway.

He was right.

As soon as her head hit the floor it bounced back up, even though there was blood coming from his right temple. She tackled Ryan again, but he easily threw her aside. Finn wasn’t so easy. Finn grabbed Ryan’s throat, while Ava pinned his arms to the floor. Ryan felt light-headed as his airway was completely cut off. His vision went double, and all the sounds around him faded to a shrill whistle as he died.